Depot fire produces, spreads nerve agent\nNEWPORT, Ind. -- A fire at the Newport Chemical Depot gutted a trailer used by workers who are razing the plant that produced the deadly VX nerve agent.\nNo one was injured in the fire Tuesday morning. Depot spokesman Dennis Lindsey said the fire posed no threat or danger to the public because nothing hazardous was stored inside the trailer.\nFirefighters quickly extinguished the 6 a.m. fire, which appeared to have begun with an electrical short in a heating/air conditioning unit, Lindsey said.\nThe trailer, which was unoccupied at the time of the fire, is about three-quarters of a mile from the depot's cache of 1,269 tons of VX. The Army expects to begin neutralizing the deadly nerve agent this summer.\nWorkers who are tearing down the VX production plant used the trailer to change into work clothing, Lindsey said.\nState and county authorities were routinely notified as soon as depot officials learned of the fire, Lindsey said.
Arrest made in fake documents case\nINDIANAPOLIS -- Officials were investigating whether a print shop helped produce phony documents used to assist at least 100 foreign nationals in illegally obtaining Indiana driver's licenses.\nThe fake documents were so well-done that it was apparent that they were produced by professional grade equipment like that at the Indianapolis Rubber Stamp Co., Marion County prosecutors alleged in a probable cause affidavit.\nCompany owner Mark Schilling told The Indianapolis Star for a story Tuesday that his business had done business with fraud suspect Elizabeth Lang but had not produced bogus documents for her.\nLang, 39, of Greenwood, who worked as an unpaid translator at an Indianapolis license branch, was arrested Nov. 20 in a sting led by U.S. postal inspectors. She has pleaded innocent to the forgery charges against her.\nProsecutors said Lang, a Chinese national who is married to an American, told investigators she helped more than 100 people illegally obtain Indiana identification and that she charged each person about $800.
Official may have filed oath too late\nELKHART -- A city councilman who didn't send in his oath of office has lost his seat. To make matters worse for his party, he may have waited too long to call a meeting to name a replacement.\nRepublicans who control the Elkhart City Council are bickering with minority Democrats over who gets to fill the seat vacated by Democratic Councilman Rod Roberson.\nAbout the only thing the sides agree on is that Roberson forfeited his at-large seat when he didn't turn in his oath of office by the end of January.\nRoberson, who was re-elected to the council in November, can explain how that happened.\n"The very first time in the first term, I did not physically take the oath of office to the clerk. It was taken there for me, so I assumed that would occur this time," Roberson said.\nUnder the law, officials must take the oath and file it with the appropriate body within 30 days of the beginning of their terms. Not doing so has the effect of vacating the office.\nRoberson was sworn in Jan. 1, the day his second term began. He didn't file the oath with the Elkhart County clerk's office until Feb. 9, records showed. However, Roberson may be barred from reclaiming the seat. State law also bars officials who have vacated an office from returning to it for the remainder of the term.\nAs for Roberson, he wants to keep the seat.\n"If the people want me to serve, I'll serve," he said. "If there's a legal reason that will prevent me from serving, then I'll have to deal with that."
INDIANAPOLIS -- A 9-year-old boy who apparently fell into a retention pond Monday when surface ice gave way was pulled out by divers but declared dead.\nA 14-year-old companion who also ended up in the pond at a housing development on Indianapolis' southwest side was rescued and sent to a hospital, where he was listed in good condition, fire officials said.\nThe boy who died had been in the water for at least 30 minutes before he was found, fire department spokesman Gregg Harris said. Divers plunged into 10 to 15 feet of 34-degree, debris-filled water to find him.\nResidents of the neighborhood surrounding the pond said it was not unusual to see children near the water. But neighbors said they were unsure why the two boys ventured onto the ice Monday or how long they were in trouble.\n"I saw someone holding onto the edge of the ice," said Brian Ringham, who was jogging through the subdivision when he heard cries for help.\nRingham and other neighbors tried to throw a garden hose to the older boy, but could not reach him.
